AMERICAN INDIAN ADOPTEES

An exciting blog about all things adoptee-related - in particular American Indian adoptees who are called Lost Children, Lost Birds, Lost Ones and Split Feathers. This blog is updated regularly by journalist-adoptee Trace A. DeMeyer, author of ONE SMALL SACRIFICE: A Memoir and the new book TWO WORLDS: Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects with Patricia Berdan Cotter-Busbee. The only way we can change history is to write it ourselves.....and the truth shall set us free...

Bibliography

Indian Adoption Project

Mixing Cultural Identities Through Transracial Adoption: Outcomes of the Indian Adoption Project (1958-1967) Harness, Susan. Edwin Mellen Press, NY. 2009 (Highly recommend this!)

Bilchik, S. (2001, April 24). [Keynote address]. Speech presented at the 19th Annual Protecting our Children Conference, Anchorage, AK. (posted on this blog)

Child Welfare League of America. (1960, April). Indian Adoption Project. New York: Author.

Demer, L. (2001, May). Native receive apology for 1950s racial adoptions. Pathways Practice Digest, 1-2.

Lyslo, A. (1962, December). Suggested criteria to evaluate families to adopt American Indian children through Indian Adoption Project. New York: Child Welfare League of America.

Lyslo, A. (1964). The Indian Adoption Project: An appeal to catholic agencies to participate. Catholic Charities Review, 48(5), 12-16.

Lyslo, A. (1967, March). 1966 year end summary of the Indian Adoption Project. New York: Child Welfare League of America.

Lyslo, A. (1967). Adoptive placement of Indian children. Catholic Charities Review, 51(2), 23-25.

Lyslo, A. (1968, April). The Indian Adoption Project – 1958 through 1967: Report of its accomplishments, evaluation and recommendations for adoption services to Indian children. New York: Child Welfare League of America.

Outcomes for Transracially Adoption Native American Children

Bagley, C., Young, Y. (1979). The identity, adjustment and achievement of transracially adopted children: A review and empirical report. In G. K. Verman and C. Bagley (Eds.), Race, education and identity (pp. 192-219). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Berlin, I. N. (1978). Anglo adoptions of Native Americans: Repercussions in adolescence. American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 17(2), 387-388.

Brooks, D.; Barth, R. P. (1999). Adult transracial and inracial adoptees: Effect of race, gender, adoptive family structure, and placement history on adjustment outcomes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69(1), 87-99.

Fanshel, D. (1972). Far from the reservation: The transracial adoption of American Indian children. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (posted on this blog)

Green, B. E., Sack, W. H., Pambrum, A. (1981). A review of child psychiatric epidemiology with special reference to American Indian and Alaska Native children. White Cloud Journal, 2(2), 22-36).

Green, H. J. (1983). Risks and attitudes associated with extra-cultural placement of American Indian children: A critical review. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22(1), 63-67.

Knapp, J. (2002, March). My adoption meant personal loss, but I don’t look for blame. Pathways Practice Digest, 1-2.

Kowal, L. A., Schilling, K. M. (1985). Adoption through the eyes of adult adoptees. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55(3), 354-362.

Locust, Carol (2000, October). Split Feathers: Adult American Indians who were placed in non-Indian families as children. Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 44(3), 11-16. (posted on this blog)

Magagnini, S. (1997, June 5). Indian adoptees go in search of roots. The Sacramento Bee, p. A20.

Massatti, R. R., Vonk, E. M., Gregorie, T. K. (2004). Reliability and validity of the transracial adoption parenting scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(1), 43-50.

McDonald, T. P., Propp, J. R, Murphy, K. C. (2001). The post-adoption experience: Child, parent, and family predictors of family adjustment to adoption. Child Welfare, 80(1), 71-94.

Melmer, D. (2004, February 18). ‘Split Feather’ syndrome addressed at S.D. committee hearing. Indian Country Today. Retrieved May 8, 2006, from http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1077116698&print=yes

Rathbun, C., McLaughlin, H., Bennett, C., & Garland, J. A. (1965). Later adjustment of children following radical separation from family and culture. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 35, 604-609.

Robin, R. W., Rasmussen, J. K., Gonzalez-Santin, E. (1999). Impact of childhood out-of-home placement on a southwestern American Indian tribe. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 2(1/2), 69-89.

Rosene, L. R. (1985). A follow-up study of Indian children adopted by white families. Dissertation Abstracts International.

Rosenthal, R. A. (1981). Triple jeopardy: Family stresses and subsequent divorce following the adoption of racially and ethnically mixed children. Journal of Divorce, 4(4), 43-54.

Ryant, J. C. (1984). Some issues in the adoption of Native children. In P. Sachdev (Ed.), Adoption: Current issues and trends (pp. 169-180). Toronto: Butterworth & Co. Ltd.

Schmidt, B. W. (2001, March). Adopted Indians seek roots. Pathways Practice Digest, 1,10 -11.

Sharma, A. R., McGue, M. K., Benson, P. L. (1996). The emotional and behavioral adjustment of United States adopted adolescents: Part I. An overview. Children and Youth Services Review, 18, 83-100.

Silverman, A. R., Feigleman, W. (1990). Adjustment in interracial adoptees: An overview. In D. K. Brodzinsky and m. D. Schechter, (Eds.), The psychology of adoption (pp. 187-200). New York: Oxford University Press.

Topper, M. D. (1979). Mormon placement: The effects of missionary foster families on Navajo adolescents. Ethos: The Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, 7(2), 162-160.

Verrier, N. M. (1993). The primal wound: Understanding the adopted child. Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc.

Westermeyer, J. (1979). The Apple Syndrome in Minnesota: A complication of racial-ethnic discontinuity. Journal of Operational Psychiatry, 10(2), 134-140.

White Hawk, S. (2001, May). An honor song and pow wow for returning lost birds. Pathways Practice Digest, 4-5.

Tribal Child Welfare – General

Association on American Indian Affairs. (1974a, Winter). The destruction of Indian families. Indian Family Defense, 1, 1-2.

Association on American Indian Affairs. (1974b, Winter). Senate probes child welfare crisis. Indian Family Defense, 2, 1-6.

Bagley, C. (1985). Child abuse by the child welfare system. Journal of Child Care, 2(3), 63-69.

Blanchard, E. L.; Barsch, R. L. (1980). What is best for tribal children? A response to Fischler. SocialWork, 25, 350-357.

Byler, W. (1977, Summer). Removing children: The destruction of American Indian families. Civil Rights Digest, 9(4), 19-27. (Byler testimony on this blog.)

George, L. (1997). Why the need for the Indian Child Welfare Act? Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 5(3/4), 165-175.

Hogan, P. T., Siu, S. F. (1988). Minority children and the child welfare system: An historical perspective. Social Work 33(6), 493-498.

Horejsi, C. C., Heavy Runner, B. (1992). Reactions by Native American parents to child protection agencies: Cultural and community factors. Child Welfare, 71(4), 329-342.

Johnson, T. R. (Ed.). (1991). The Indian Child Welfare Act the next ten years: Indian homes for Indian children. Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, University of California.

Jones, D. M. (1969). Child welfare problems in an Alaskan Native village. Social Service Review, 43, 297-309.

Kunesh, P. (1996). Transcending frontiers: Indian child welfare in the United States [Electronic version]. Boston College Third World Law Journal, 16(17), 17-34.

McMahon, A., Gullerud, E. N. (1995). Native American agencies for Native American children: Fulfilling the promise of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Journal of Sociology Social Welfare, 22(1), 87-98.

Shore, J. H. (1978, Summer). Destruction of Indian families – beyond the best interests of Indian children. White Cloud Journal, 1 (2), 13-16.

First Nations Adoption

Bagley, C. (1991). Adoption of Native children in Canada: A policy analysis and a research report. In H. Alstein and R. J. Simon (Eds.), Intercountry adoption: A multinational perspective (pp. 56-79). New York: Praeger Publishers.

Fournier, S. Crey, E. (1997). Stolen from our embrace: The abduction of First Nations children and the restoration of Aboriginal communities. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd.

Johnston, P. (1983). Native children and the child welfare system. Toronto: James Lorimer and Company.

Lipman, M. (1984). Adoption in Canada: Two decades in review. In P. Sachdev (Ed.), Adoption: Current issues and trends, (pp. 30-42). Toronto: Butterworth & Co. Ltd.

Morse, B. (1984). Native Indian and Metis children in Canada: Victims of the child welfare system. In G.

K. Verma and C. Bagley (Eds.), Race relations and cultural differences (pp. 259-277). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Swift, S. (1999). One of those kids: AFN and other try to restore faded tribal ties for Canada’s Native adoptees. American Indian Report, 15(10), 22-24.

Ward, M. (1984). The adoption of Native Canadian children. Cobalt, Ontario: Highway Book Shop.

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FIVE STAR review of One Small Sacrifice

Paula Benoit wrote:

One Small Sacrifice is a must read for anyone touched by adoption. I couldn't put this book down from the moment I started reading it. Trace DeMeyer has captured the heart and soul of life as an adoptee brought into a culture not originally her own. The importance of adoptees knowing who they are and where they come from is paramount to their mental, physical and spiritual wellness. She points out many reasons why people feel complete when they have their original identity, not just the identity given to them by their adopted parents. Millions of adult adoptees across the United States are without their original identity because of sealed birth certificates and Trace takes the readers along her journey to understanding who she is and where it all began for her.

(Paula Benoit, former State Senator in Maine, helped Maine unseal their adoption records) (see more great reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!)

Wonderful review on Amazon!

Two Worlds - Lost children of the Indian Adoption Projects
If you thought that ethnic cleansing was something for the history books, think again. This work tells the stories of Native American Indian adoptees "The Lost Birds" who continue to suffer the effects of successive US and Canadian government policies on adoption; policies that were in force as recently as the 1970's. Many of the contributors still bear the scars of their separation from their ancestral roots. What becomes apparent to the reader is the reality of a racial memory that lives in the DNA of adoptees and calls to them from the past. The editors have let the contributors tell their own stories of their childhood and search for their blood relatives, allowing the reader to gain a true impression of their personalities. What becomes apparent is that nothing is straightforward; re-assimilation brings its own cultural and emotional problems.
Not all of the stories are harrowing or sad; there are a number of heart-warming successes, and not all placements amongst white families had negative consequences. But with whom should the ultimate decision of adoption reside? Government authorities or the Indian people themselves? Read Two Worlds and decide for yourself. (on Amazon UK)